Usually, the findings of the FCA's thematic reviews are published in a report.

However, a source close to the FCA told Business Insider that after its initial round of inquiry, the FCA has instead decided to proceed by working with the banks "individually" and directly to address "remuneration, appraisal and promotion decisions." It will not be publishing a report like it usually does.

The City will likely breathe a huge sigh of relief. While the banks claim they are radically changing their cultures, previous FCA publications have included embarrassing transcripts or descriptions of practices that have damaged the reputation of lenders.

The source said it isn't abandoning the inquiry, just doing it in a different way than usual for a thematic review.

A spokesperson for the FCA declined to confirm it was scrapping the report but gave us this statement:

A focus on the culture in financial services firms remains a priority for the FCA. There is currently extensive ongoing work in this area within firms and externally. We have decided that the best way to support these efforts is to engage individually with firms to encourage their delivery of cultural change as well as supporting the other initiatives outside the FCA.

In the regulator's Business Plan 2015/16, FCA chairman John Griffith-Jones said "poor culture and controls continue to concern us, notwithstanding the efforts being made by firms to improve both."

"...probably, we're missing an opportunity to be able to look at what is best and worst practice across the banks."

"There's always been this great argument that perhaps the Treasury is having more influence over the regulator than perhaps it ought to. And certainly if I was looking for a Machiavellian plot behind what's happened here and the tone of the regulator then I suppose I would start looking at the Treasury. And it's certainly been widely talked about that the Treasury thought the regulator was overdoing it in favour of the consumer and certainly from my point of view on the Treasury Select Committee, I thought otherwise."

Another MP also commented:

Business Insider got in touch with the FCA again late morning and asked for a new response over interpretations of the shelved report and whether the public would eventually be able to see the findings.

The spokesperson said they had already given me a statement (which is above in this article) and "without going into semantics," "if there is no review, there's no findings."

To be clearer, I asked whether the public will be still able to see those findings because the process has now moved to work directly and with the banks individually. For example, if Bank A had an area of concern and this was identified and changed accordingly by having the bank and regulator working directly together, would we know what that area or issue was and how and when it would be changed?

The spokesperson said that the FCA already gave me a response this morning and that they would not make an addition to this.

She will assemble the heads of the wholesale banks at the biggest lenders for a private summit scheduled to take place in mid-January.

We don't have the agenda of the meeting but it comes amid waning political will to bash bankers. It signals the FCA is willing to listen to the people it regulates and change its combative stance to a more open one.